Let’s be honest—road trips are a lot more fun when your dog is happily sticking their nose out the window instead of looking like they’re about to decorate the backseat with their breakfast. 🤢🐶
If you have a puppy or dog that gets car sick, you know the struggle. While we are definitely not veterinarians or doggy medical experts, we’ve spent plenty of time traveling with our own four-legged adventure buddies and have discovered a routine that works well for us.
A quick disclaimer before we hit the road: Everything we’re sharing is based on our personal experience with our dogs and is not medical or professional advice. If your dog regularly gets car sick—or has any special health or dietary needs—please check with your veterinarian.
So, what do we do?
🐾 No breakfast before takeoff!
For our dogs, we feed their regular meal the night before a trip and skip breakfast on travel day. This has worked well for our crew and has helped make the ride more comfortable.
🦴 But wait… no snacks?
Oh, there are definitely snacks! What kind of road trip would it be without snacks?
For longer trips, we pack high-protein, real-meat dog jerky or tenders along with a few dog biscuits. We give our dogs appropriate snacks along the way until we reach our destination.
For shorter day trips, we also skip their morning meal and feed them when we get home. We still bring high-quality snacks for the adventure because, let’s face it, being a professional car-window supervisor is hungry work!
⚠️ A very important reminder
Every dog is different, and feeding routines should always take your dog’s individual needs into consideration. Bloat (GDV) is a serious and life-threatening emergency in dogs, so it’s important to talk with your veterinarian about what feeding and travel routine is safest for your dog.
What works for our travel crew 🐶❤️
This routine has helped our dogs stay happy, comfortable, and ready for adventure. Instead of spending the drive feeling sick, they can focus on the important things—sniffing new places, begging for snacks, and wondering why we didn’t stop at that one interesting bush.
Of course, what works for our dogs may not work for every dog, which is why your veterinarian should always be your go-to source for professional advice.
Want to learn more about dog car sickness?
We found some helpful information from Pure Paws Veterinary Care. We’re not endorsing the site, and their information shouldn’t replace advice from your veterinarian, but we found their article helpful and thought other traveling dog parents might too.
Most importantly, know your dog, listen to your veterinarian, pack the treats, buckle up, and get ready for your next adventure!
Because the best road trips should be full of wagging tails, muddy paws, amazing memories… and hopefully zero backseat barf. 😂🐾🚗
